Incorporating new thinking into brand communication

In Any Pitch, The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Today is decision day, when the International Olympic Committee announces their choice of city to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Because of this, great numbers of Chicagoans now know firsthand what it’s like to be in a new business pitch.

Because that’s what this is, on a global scale. And it’s certainly been a long slog getting here… Committees formed, strategies outlined, creative developed–by most any measure it’s been a Herculean task to marshall the civic resources and execute the proposed plan. And yet, dealing with the challenges and problems is rarely the big difficulty in a pitch–the waiting is the hardest part.

Solving problems is our daily work, much like it’s Daley’s job for this City that Works. Pulling everything together is mostly a larger, less certain version of the tasks we handle every workday. But now, at this point, there is nothing more to be done. There are no more points to make, no more influence to wield, no more remarkable surprises to unveil (“Presto! It’s Oprah!”). There is only the backroom handicapping (“Sure Rio’s right, the games have never been in South America…then again, Rio police average more than three killings a day under the heading of resisting arrest!”) and the nail-biting wait for the decision, for the messenger to emerge from behind the closed doors, for the white smoke to issue from the Vatican chimney…

An estimated thirty-thousand people will be gathering in Daley Plaza today, starting around 9 AM. The announcement itself is planned for 11:30 (CST). If you want more details, check out www.chicago2016.org

A lot of us from Element 79 will be down there in that anxious throng, wearing orange t-shirts with our fingers crossed. The announcement could make for wild elation or a huge bummer.

Which is only fitting because in the long run, much like a new business win, it will work out to be some balance of both anyway. Go Chicago!